Standing beneath the steeple, playing in the cornfields, learning to be a pastor while trying to faithfully preach the Good News, and the church who loves me anyway.

The Pounding

They were shocked I even knew what to call it. “A Pounding”, I learned from my preacher father, is when a church showers their new pastor with all sorts of things for getting settled in. My preacher father has this marvelous story of being given a pounding by his first congregation, and how it quite literally saved their lives. I’ve always thought that was a pretty nifty thing, and always thought how cool it was that God took care of them (us) that way.

However, the thought that God might take care of my family in this same way never occured to me. I expected to walk into this new family, having everything that I could need. But as neither of us have gotten a paycheck yet (as is the nature of the beast with starting a new job), I couldn’t have been more excited when the very thing that took care of my parents showed up at MY door.

My new church, for whom I haven’t even started working yet!, gathered up all sorts of stuff that I might need: toilet paper (lots and lots of toilet paper), paper towels, dish detergent, cans of this, and cans of that, cake mixes, and mouthwash (Is this a hint??) And somehow, 35 or so people filled four large boxes to overflowing.

But perhaps it was not only these boxes that were overflowing. Perhaps it was their desire to love and care for their new pastor that was overflowing. Perhaps it was their hearts. Or perhaps it was my heart, because it was so touched by this very nifty, very appreciated gesture.